Re: [Linux-aus] Boycott HP

[Leon Brooks <leon@cyberknights.com.au>]

On Wed, 3 Sep 2003 14:19, Gary Allpike wrote:
> In my small, deranged mind, this equates not only to exploitation of
> third world countries, but something that should have the average
> Australian questioning if they want to do business with a company
> that is flat out trying to toss their local employees onto the
> unemployment scrapheap.

The exploitation of 3rd world countries is arguable, but it's sadly 
amusing to see some companies declaring India "too expensive" and 
moving on to even cheaper labour pools. Cheap labour is not a limitless 
resource.

One side-effect of enriching the 3rd world will be a reduction in 
birthrate (affluence does that).

One has to wonder about legal complications. If an HP support staffer in 
Delhi makes a statement with legal implications, have they officially 
committed HP Australia, or HP India, or nobody?

One also has to wonder how long before we start outsourcing C[EFI]Os, 
salesmen, accountants, political staffers and other corporata to India. 
I think if you were able to get an article into a large-circulation 
paper seriously discussing the virtues of having an Indian PHB that 
costs 1/10 as much as the current one you might get some serious 
attention (maybe a blip in hospital admissions for myocardial 
infarction?). I strongly suspect that the people making these decisions 
are totally disconnected from the reality of unemployment, and bringing 
the battle closer to them is the only way to crack the armour around 
their personal universes.

Cheers; Leon

-- 
http://cyberknights.com.au/     Modern tools; traditional dedication
http://plug.linux.org.au/       Committee Member, Perth Linux User Group
http://slpwa.asn.au/            Committee Member, Linux Professionals WA
http://linux.org.au/            Committee Member, Linux Australia